First experiences

Mirriwe (good afternoon) friends & family!

To give you a little impression of what happened the last few days, a summary of each day and some pictures in the photo section.



Sunday 18-11-2007



We left Schiphol Airport around 9 pm and headed for Nairobi (Kenya), with Kenyan Airways. It was an 8,5 hour flight, with very friendly crew. The airport in Nairobi was small, boring and very hot. We had to wait for the next plane for about 3 hours. There was a small waiting room with people sleeping and waiting. In Kenya it was 2 hours time difference (later) with Holland and in Rwanda one hour.



Monday 18-11-2007



We arrived in Rwanda around 1:30 pm and our driver picked us up from the airport and brought us to the hostel. For the coming 2,5 weeks we can experience the luxury of having 2 jeeps including 2 chauffeurs! The hostel is okay, we have a room and a small bathroom. The garden around the hostel is absolutely beautiful and they keep everything very clean. The water in the shower is freezing cold, but at least there is water. Luckily every bed has its own net to protect against mosquitoes, very useful here. After dropping of our baggage we went into town, Kigali. It is really different from what we are used to. Lots of people on streets carrying all sorts of things, e.g. cans with water. We had something to eat and visited the tourist office. In the evening we had dinner at the hostel. Everyone was so tired, so around 9 pm we fell a sleep.



Tuesday 20-11-2007



We woke up at 6 (!) am, had breakfast and went to the school where Eric, Christine, Graham and Gordon teach the teachers English lessons. When we arrived the school was empty, no students and no teachers, so we went for a walk, looking for them. We found out, they were at the school yesterday! So the teaching will start tomorrow. There were a lot of children who were all very curious about us. We felt like tourist attractions! We also had a look at a home Eric and his team built the last time they were in Rwanda. Again lots of children grouped around us, touching us, etc. A very strange experience. In the house now lives a 24 years old girl who lost all her family in the genocide (she is in 1 of the pictures). She now is finishing secondary school. It's a very sad story, but one of the many here.



After that we went to the market. That was quite an experience as well! We were almost attacked by young boys who wanted to earn some money by helping us with the shopping. They had lots and lots of fruit, all different kinds. We had a very good lunch in Kigali, in restaurant Karibu (means Welcome in Swahili). And it costs us only 3 euros per person!



What we saw of Rwanda so far, it is a beautiful country. Very green: lots of banana trees, avocado trees.



That's it or now, next update as soon as possible.



Love.